I pray that you have an awesome Christmas today and that this coming year will be full of blessing and new vision!

It’s been great spending time with family up here in the NorthWest and meeting my little niece for the first time. We’ll be here until the 29th and then make our way back down the coast. In the meantime my holiday gut is coming along nicely due to great food and holiday ale!

If you haven’t seen Narnia yet, do it!
My favorite quote from the movie:
“He is not tame.”
“Yes, but he is good.”

Always on the hunt for new music I thought I’d share my latest find, who I personally think has a lot of potential although no CD out yet.
Kebyar hails from the dirty south and has an R&B/Hip Hop thing going. The only place to hear his tunes is on MySpace which is after all good for something.
Check the tunes here or here.

Party Madness begins!

From now (actually from Wednesday) until our departure to Seattle we have either a Christmas party or a get together of some sort. I plan on breaking the 190 pound weight limit over the next 2 weeks (I’m around 175 now) by drinking as much egg nogg as possible, eating as much peppermint ice cream I can lay my hands on, and daily repenting for the sin of gluttony. I’ll let you know if I attain my goal.

In other news if you’re in the Eureka area tomorrow night or next Friday the 23rd our church will be hosting a live nativity. I just got done mixing the soundtrack that you play in your car as you drive around the block and it should be dope.

In case you haven’t noticed check out Trevor’s blog (representing Canada) which I added to my friends. If you would like to be added then drop me a line.

For those of you who need a little extra cheer this year I have posted a heart warming video that’s sure to get you in the Christmas spirit. Enjoy!

Only those of you who either play Madden Football or enjoy the sport itself will find this funny.
While starting a game against the Eagles I noticed a defensive player who looked a bit small to be playing the line. Lo and behold it was David Akers - the kicker! He played the whole game as a Right Gaurd and did a kick arse job if I say so myself. The graphics may have gotten better over the years but…yeah.

So last night I’m driving home from work and there’s a wee bit of traffic. Bored, I begin to read the license plate frame in front of me; “Another Grandma from Hell”
I don’t think much about it except that it’s stupid, and then it catches my eye. The symbol to all CHP’s, the symbol that separates creationists from evolutionists, the symbol that cries out, “I am sanctified”! Yes, the Icthus or Christian Fish for you non-Greeks. Extremely puzzled my eyes flash back and forth from the Icthus to the license plate frame. Back and forth my mind processes the imagery. She’s from hell but she’s sanctified. My mind can’t handle the dichotomy and I feel like I’m about to backslide, when the light turns green and I’m able to quickly pass the Christian Grandma from Hell.
So all this makes me question the motives of people who put an Icthus on their car. Now the orgin of the Christian fish comes from a lot of Jesus teachings. He was really good at using the culture around him to teach God’s principles and there were many fishing communities where he ministered. But where the Icthus really took off as a way of identifying Christians was after Jesus died and the intense persecution began. Legend has it that as travelers met one would draw half of the fish in the sand with their staff and if the other was a Christian he would draw the other half - so identifying their brotherhood.
If that is true then today’s use of it is wrong. Now if you have one on the back of your car your saying, “Hey wait a minute guy…”
Think about it though, you have something identifying you as a Christian and you cut some one off in traffic. Whether it was by accident or not doesn’t matter, you did. Now someone who already has angst toward Christianity has more fuel, or maybe they didn’t in the first place but they do now.
So I ask the question what is the point of the Icthus on the back of cars? Comments are welcome and my response(s) will be forthcoming.

My favorite angry white man is Bill O’Rielly. He has a lot of good points but sometimes he’s just a little bit…um silly.
Maybe it’s the older generation that likes to look for the devil in everything, or maybe people, even Christians constantly need a new cause to fight for.
The seasonal cause to fight for is of course Christmas.
Check this.

Do you want to know your friend, family, or co-worker better than you do?

It’s no surprise that when I was in High School I lived a double life. I think most kids go through the phase where they act like they’re supposed to act in front of their parents and other adults and completely different when they’re with their friends. You talk differently, act differently, and if your parents were somehow there watching - they wouldn’t even recognize you. Eventually you outgrow the fear of pleasing your parents and become who you are. Either side of your double life fades away and you become you, for all to see.

When you look back you realize that the peer or parental pressure was the impetus of why you had two lives. After high school or college those are removed and so you are free to be who you are with out worrying as much what others think. If you want to swear, swear. If you want to drink, drink. If you want to have sex, have sex. You are who you are.
Oh, but wait the dual life doesn’t end there. There is another avenue to express yourself, a new place to secretly be someone else. A place where you can engage in just about any activity you want and no one will ever know…and you are there right now. Yeah, the internet.

Do you want to know your friend, family, or co-worker better than you do?
Go on the net baby. Surprisingly a lot of people never did overcome dual life syndrome it was just hibernating for a bit. We’re all aware of the creepy chat rooms and that about 90% of what is said in them isn’t true. Men posing as women, pedophiles posing as 12 year olds and the list goes on. What I would like to point your attention to is not the false lives on the net but the dual ones. So where do we find a loved ones dual life? Let me introduce you to the blogosphere. Millions of people now have ownership of their very own digital publishing tool, a blog (short for weblog) or is part of a blog community. Diary’s and Journal’s are a thing of the past, now you can put your innermost thoughts onto your own personal web space where no one can see it - yeah right.

You see the amazing thing about the internet is that any of the 6 billion people in the world can access it yet the 14 year old who’s living a dual life thinks that his parent never will. Blogs now play host to the dual lives of millions of people, people you thought you knew. If your a youth pastor and you want to know the real spiritual lives of your kids check out MySpace (a blogging community). I guarantee you’ll read stuff that will make you want to cry. I’ve read stuff in the blogosphere that has made me question if I ever really knew someone. Most people know that anyone who has an internet connection including their friends and family will most likely read what they publish, but it’s amazing how many actually think their secret lives (being published on the net) will remain that way.

So after saying all this, my warning to you is don’t search. Don’t Google your loved ones name. Don’t go on MySpace, LiveJournal, or Tblog and look for their blog. Ignorance is bliss and lord knows you don’t need the burden of having the knowledge of a dual life.

After a lovely night on the town Saturday Jess and I came home full of holiday cheer only to find that our beloved dwarf hamster Rosa had passed away. The following is her obituary:

Rosa Fouche was born into capitvity on a dwarf hamster farm. Only a few short weeks after her birth she made the trip up the coast to the lovely victorian seaport of Eureka, CA. Some weeks later while searching for a cute furry thing to give his wife Andrew Fouche adopted Rosa and gave her as a birthday present. She was much loved at an early age but after two weeks of living in her new home she longed for open spaces. After the great escape things were never quite the same. Although still loved Rosa’s angst kept her relationships at arms length. Rosa is survived by Andrew and Jessica Fouche. A memorial service will be held at the Russian Orthodox church on Friday the 9th. Rest in Peace Rosa!

I dig some of Kayne’s stuff but from what I’ve seen of the brotha he’s not the most well spoken or thoughtful guy in public.

Kanye West Goes Off